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Dodgers won't get Padilla back until June

Dodgers won't get Padilla back until June

LOS ANGELES -- Opening Day starter Vicente Padilla did light throwing Sunday at Dodger Stadium but is not expected back until June when rehab starts are factored in, Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.

Padilla has been on the disabled list with right elbow soreness since April 25 after he made his fourth start on April 22. Padilla is 1-1 with a 6.65 ERA. His absence and Charlie Haeger's erratic control have left the Dodgers' rotation with just three regular starting pitchers, the primary reason they find themselves 13-17 and in last place in the National League West by six games behind the Padres.

Torre said someone will have to step up from within.

"I think it's certainly fixable, and it's just a matter of when that happens. It will happen," Torre said. "It's just a matter of when. I can't give you that right now. But we certainly need for that to happen at some point this year and we need to stay close enough so that when it does happen it'll make a big impact on us."

The starters who should be their three most reliable, Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley and Hiroki Kuroda, all struggled in their most recent starts.

According to Torre, however, leadership has not been the problem.

"I think their security still comes from the Casey Blakes and Garret [Anderson] and you look at Jamey [Carroll], who's filling in for a pretty important player."